- Jul 19, 2009
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We have had chickens for about a year, and lost the first one today, a 3 month old Easter Egger, to a raccoon at 11pm. I have a henhouse that the older hens roost in , but the newer Easter Eggers are still getting picked on by the older girls and have chosen to roost outside in the coop, which is completely wire-enclosed, but has some weak spots covered only in chicken wire under a tree. That's where the coon came through. WHen I heard the squawking I arrived with a flashlight and saw the coon trying to pull the carcass of Wendy, the beautiful EE, through the wire. I pulled at her body and kept it. Then I got a pellet gun and shot the coon in the face, who was hanging around, hoping to retrieve the rest of Wendy I guess. THe pellet didn't kill it but did hurt it and it wandered off. I put the other EE in the henhouse with the older girls and she whimpered for a long while, since she so loved her sister. THey were always together, couldn't stand to be apart, them against the whole world. It's terribly sad. I hope she can get along with some of the older girls because otherwise she'll be so lonely she might die of heartbreak. Anyone have any experience with lonely, heartbroken chickens? I thought about maybe she might need a new buddy, another "newbie" to the flock who she can buddy up with.